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Hudak vows 10% income tax cut after balancing budget

With less than three weeks to go until Ontarians head to the polls to elect a new Premier, PC candidate Tim Hudak made a campaign stop at a supporter's home in Woodbridge Saturday. Hudak pledged to the small crowd that he'd balance the budget and then lower taxes if elected. (CHRIS DOUCETTE/Toronto Sun)

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With less than three weeks until Ontarians heads to the polls, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is promising to cut income taxes by 10% if elected as the province’s next leader.

But he said the tax breaks won’t kick in until the books are balanced.

“I believe in my heart that strong leaders have a clarity of purpose, so here’s mine,” Hudak said at a supporter’s Woodbridge home Saturday. “I want to increase disposable income of all Ontarians.”

“That means more jobs. That means better take home pay. That means lower taxes,” he told the small crowd gathered in a backyard on Arista Gate, one of the latest stops on his campaign trail.

Hudak believes “taxes are too high” and it’s “holding back economic activity” because people have less money to spend.

“We’re at a crossroads,” he said, adding when Ontarians cast their vote June 12 they need to decide whether they want higher taxes and increased spending — courtesy of Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne — or cutbacks that will ultimately lead to more cash in their pockets.

“We’ve seen what the Wynne government has done with your tax dollars, from the gas plant scandal, to Ornge, to eHealth,” Hudak said.

“I want to see us heading down a path toward prosperity again,” he said.

If elected Hudak said his first priority will be to balance the budget, which he pledged to do by 2016.

“We need to do that because we need to spend within our means so we’re not going to put a burden on our next generation,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy, but it needs to be done.”

Hudak explained balancing the budget will lead to “rewards for all of us.”

“Once we balance the budget, I’m going to lower income taxes for all workers in the province.”

Hudak said lowering income taxes by 10% would mean average Ontarians with household incomes of $70,000 would have an extra $825 at the end of the year.

If they put that money back into local economies — fixing up their homes, buying new furniture or clothes for their kids — he estimates it will lead to 47,000 new jobs.

“They just don’t seem to understand how the real economy works. They’ve increased your taxes time and time again and we’ve lost jobs because they believe they can spend your money better than you can.”

One woman in the crowd expressed concern her kids won’t be able to afford the lifestyle she and her husband share.

Hudak said he has similar worries for his daughters — Miller, 6, and Maitland, two months — who, along with his wife, were at his side Saturday.

He said making tough decisions now will ensure a brighter future for the next generation.

PC candidate for Vaughan, Peter Meffe, echoed Hudak’s concern.

“What’s happening now is that they’ve decided our kids are their credit cards,” Meffe told the crowd. “That’s the sort of thing we have to stop.”

Liberal MPP for Vaughan, Steven Del Duca, was also out front of the Arista Gate home firing criticism at the PCs.

He said local residents have expressed “absolute shock and disappointment in Hudak’s plan to fire 100,000 people,” which he pointed out would be equal to all of Woodbridge losing their jobs.

Del Duca dodged questions about the past scandals that have plagued his party and instead focused on the future saying Ontarians “want to see progress.”

“They don’t want to see recklessness, schemes sort of cooked up on the back of a napkin,” Del Duca said. “They want to make sure that we’re moving forward positively.”